In the European Parliament said about the growing influence of Russia in Serbia and the Balkans

Russia pursues a policy of destabilization of the situation in Serbia in order to prevent the occurrence of the Balkan Republic into the EU. In an interview with German newspaper Welt said the head of the European Parliament Committee on foreign Affairs David McAllister.

“Russia is conducting in Serbia deliberate destabilization. This gives us cause for great concern” — said the politician.

The source claims that Moscow is trying to exert a strong influence on the media, some politicians and civil society of the Republic. At the same time, McAllister said that Serbia sees Russia as one of the main supporters.

The newspaper emphasizes that even the Supreme representative of the European Union for foreign Affairs and security policy Federica Mogherini during a visit to Serbia felt friendly towards Russia atmosphere. During a visit to the Parliament of Belgrade in early March, she saw that some of the opposition MPs chanted “Serbia — Russia! We don’t need European Union”.

“The Balkans is a very turbulent region where there can be a surge in a very short time due to some irresponsible actions can again be conflicts that have long been considered resolved,” said McAllister.

The newspaper reminds that Russia and Serbia in may 2014 signed a Treaty on “strategic partnership”. Both sides agreed to support each other in the exchange of information and conduct joint military exercises. At the same time, the Serbian expert said that the EU is the largest “donor” to Serbia by 2020, the Union should allocate the country €1,5 to support reforms and economic projects.

Most of the countries of the Balkan Peninsula are not part of the EU. The only exceptions are Bulgaria, Croatia and Greece. Serbia applied for EU membership in 2009. Three years later the country received the official status of candidate country.